Container and package construction



March 27, 1934. R WARE CONTAINER AND PACKAGE CONSTRUCTION Filed Sept. 28. 1932 INVENTOR. $04M f/CUa/La 029mg;

ATTORNEY.

Patented Mar. 27. 1934 1,952,693 CONTAINER AND PAC AG C NSTRUCTION Richard P. Ware, Detroit, Mich., assignor to= Package Improvement Company, Inc., Detroit, Mich.,a corporation oLMichigan 3 Application September 28, 1932, Serial No. 635,260

7 6 Claims (Cl. 62-915) This invention relates to container and package constructions.- Q A One object of the invention is tov provide .a construction employing an innercontainer, end. caps thereon, and an outer wall. Another object is to provide a construction, such as is above described, ,whereinthe end caps are inthe form of hollow vessels containing a refrigerating or processing medium.

Still further objects willappear upon reference to the following, detailed description of embodishowing the same. In this drawing+ Figures 1 and 4,-show in elevational section novel refrigerating packages;

Figure 2 is a section as if on urel; a

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectionview of a detail.

, Referring tothe drawing, it Willbe seen that each of the constructions shown includes .an' inner container inwhich theproduct tobe marketed is contained. The inner container may be in the form of an open ended, plaincylindrical tube, in Figure;1, as shown or it may well be a. container of any well knownpform suchas the conventional slip-cover paper can ofF'igure 4, commonly used for packing ice cream. On the open, ends of the inner container 10 container, 10A of'Figure 4 are end caps containing-a suitable refrigerant, such as cakes of solid carbon dioxide, referenced 11. I

' The top end capincludes a container part 12 having an annular bead 14 projecting downwardiv therefrom, near orat the edge thereof, the

space inside the bead receiving the end of the innercontainer. The part 12 is covered and closed by a top piece or cover 15 having a down-,

the upwardly projecting flange. 1'7 of the part .12. The bottom end. cap includes a container part 20,- in which the cake 11 is disposed, and; is covered and closed-by a cover 21 having a downwardlyprojecting flange 22 fitting tightly over the upwardly projecting flange 23 of the part 20. The cover 21 has an annular raised bead 24 near or at its edge, the space inside ,the bead.

receiving the bottom end of the-inner container 10. 50, Connecting the end caps, and formingan outer .wall for the package, is an outer shell 26 which,

'as shown, may, well be and preferably is in the line 2+2:0,f as;

thruthis space courses the vapors given off by the refrigerant, these escaping thru apertures 28 out' inthe beads 14 and 24 of the end caps.

It will be observed that the construction shown provides an efiicient refrigerating package which may be readily assembled and manipulated as follows:

' At aplant where solid carbon dioxide is manufactured, the end caps may be filled with refrigerant in the form of cakes, powder, flakes,

etc-., andparts 12-15, and 2021, then assemments thereof, and to .the appended drawing,

bled. The'filled end. caps may be shipped to a v .distributor of ice creamwhofabricates a package by placing a filled bottom end cap on a table, placing thereon a filled inner container, the bead 24 serving as-an alinement guide; plac ing on the upper end of the inner container a filled top end cap, the bead 14 serving as an alinement guide therefor, and then sliding a tube 26 over the three parts previously assembled to form an outer shell. Since the tube 26 fits tightly over the end caps, it will retain itself in-assembly to form a complete container.

. To open the package, the user may push the end ,caps and the inner container out of the outer wall 26. The end caps will readily part fromthednner container leaving the latter free r for removal of the contents. of Figure .1 or on the closed ends of the inner It .will be observed that the refrigerant cakes are completely enclosed in the end'caps at all the latter closed, will the refrigerant be exposed for contact with the hands or fingers of the distributor or packer orthe consumer.

,1 It will also be observed that the end caps are preferably, tho of course not necessarily, not

exactly alike, they-being differently constructed wardly projecting flange 16 fitting tightly over so that 'i when assembled on opposite ends of the inner container, their cover parts will be *1 on the-upper side, with flanges 16 and 22 turning downwardly; This makes it easier to slide the 1 outer wall 26 ontothe assembly than would be the case if the end caps were alike, with one of the flanges turning upwardly.

'This construction also insures a rounding being provided at the upper part of each end cap.

The rounding is formed by the filleted annular edge of cover 15, while for. the lower end cap,

the rounding is formed by the bead 24. The

rounding facilitates sliding the tube 26 onto the assembled inner container and end .caps.

It will also beobserved that, if desired, a quick opening means. such as the multi-ply rip cord construction B. of Figure .3, shown in my prior application Serial No. 590,077, may be employed for the outer wall 26 and for the inner container. This feature need not be incorporated, but might well be, since it would tend to facilitate removal of the contents.

It will also be observed that the package shown is so designed as to be extremely economical of manufacture. The inner container and the outer wall may, as shown in Figure 1, particularly, be nothing more than plain tubing, out to length, and of any suitable material. The end cap parts may be pressed or stamped inexpensively from blank stock, and without difficulty, and may be perforated before or during the forming operation.

It will also be observed that the package is free of projections, beads, etc. which might interfere with labelling, packing, or handling of the completed packages.

Further while the contained mass 11 has been described as solid carbon dioxide, it might well be of any other material, useful in processing, preserving, or refrigerating the contents of the vessel 10.

Further, it might be found practical to dispense with the inner container 10, and to place a solid block of ice cream or the like, wrapped in paper, etc., between end caps, relying on the refrigerant to keep the ice cream not only cold, but solidified.

Variations of the ideas disclosed in the drawing might well be provided without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, a paper disc 40 (Figure 1) might be provided in the open end of the inner container 10 to enable the user to push the ice cream out of the container with great facility. This facilitates the removal of the ice cream in layers, or slices which is of advantage when differently flavored products are packed. Further, the. number of perforations 28, or their effective individual or aggregate size, might well be varied to accelerate or decelerate the refrigerating effect of the cakes 11. Further, ends of the outer wall might be crimped over the end caps, if desired in the event that the friction fit between the end caps and the outer wall is not found to be sufficient to produce a satisfactory construction. Further, the inner container might well be of a frustoconical shape, like a paper cup of conventional form, in which case the end caps will have differently dimensioned headings.

Further, it is also contemplated to fabricate packages wherein but one of the ends is of. the inner container centering construction disclosed, this end being round, square, ovoid, oblong, etc. depending upon the shape of the package.

It will be observed at this time that while in,the container shown, the word end is applied to the rather small area parts 12 and 15, they might well be applied to large area parts of a package, which is so shaped that the ends are larger in area than other of the package walls.

It will also be observed that the outer wall, and the headings of the end'caps afford a resilient protective shell for the inner container or contents, well protecting the same from shock, breakage, damage, etc.

Further, while the ends are shown as 'containing a mass 11, they might well be left void, for any purpose that might be better served by an empty end; or might be filled with any material desired. In this connection, it will be observed that the presence of CO2 gas or vapor in space 27 acts as an insulating medium around the inner container.

Further, while it has been previously mentioned that the blocks 11 may be placed in the ends, in the CO2 factory, this practice need not be followed. For example, it might be found more convenient to place the CO2 in the ends when, the package, as a whole, is being fabricated.

Further, while in the form shown, the end as well as the container cross section is round, it is of course understood that they might well be of entirely different shape, square, oblong, ovoid, etc., as desired.

Now having described the invention and preferable embodiments of the same, reference will be had to the following claims which determine the scope of the invention, it being understood that the invention is not to be limited to the specific embodiments shown.

I therefore claim:

1. A package comprising a vessel, a substantially cylindrical outer shell, disposed around and in spaced relation with respect to the vessel and having open ends, end caps anchored in said open ends and having formations providing seats receiving the ends of the vessel and anchoring the same with respect to the outer wall, the end caps having marginal flanges which facilitate sliding the outer shell on and over a pre-assembled unit comprising a vessel and the end caps, the marginal flanges, in any one package, facing in the same direction from a datum plane.

2. A package comprising a vessel, a substantially cylindrical outer shell, disposed around and in spaced relation with respect to the vessel, and having open ends, end caps anchored in said open ends and having formations providing seats receiving the ends of the vessel and anchoring the same with respect to the outer wall, at least one of the end caps being hollow and containing a mass of a processing compound which cooperates with the vessel to process the contents thereof.

3. A package comprising a vessel, a substantially cylindrical outer shell, disposed around and in spaced relation with respect to the vessel, and having open ends, end caps anchored in said open ends and having formations providing seats receiving the ends of the vessel and anchoring the same with respect to the outer wall, at least one of the end caps being of a plurality of initially separate parts joined to form a sub-receptacle which maintains its independent sub-receptacle character even when disassociated from the package.

4. A package comprising a vessel, a substantially cylindrical outer shell, disposed around and in spaced relation with respect to the vessel, and having open ends, end caps anchored in said open ends and having formations providing seats receiving the ends of the vessel and anchoring the same with respect to the outer wall, at least one of the end caps being of a plurality of initially separate parts joined to form a sub-receptacle, which maintains its independent sub-receptacle character even when disassociated from the package, and in which is disposed a mass of a processing compound which cooperates with the vessel to process the contents thereof.

5. A package comprising a vessel, a substantially cylindrical outer shell disposed around and in spaced relation with respect to the vessel and having an open end, an end cap anchored therein and having a formation providing a seat receiving the end of the vessel and anchoring the same with respect to the outer wall, the end cap being hollow and containing a; mass of a processing compound which'cooperates with the contents of the vessel to process the contents thereof, the end cap including a plurality of initially separate parts joined and maintained in assembly to form a sub-receptacle independent of the shell and vessel, and which maintains its independent subreceptacle character even when disassociated from the package.

6. A package comprising a vessel, a substan 

